Steppe

It took me about five days to fall in love with this place.

Today we saw an older Patagonia, more original to history. On a dirt backroads to Los Glaciares we bump over the steppe: guanacos, choyique, condors, eagles, flamingos, hares! And vistas in every direction. At an old estancia (now bar) there’s a barrel stove giving off heat and guachos smoking meat. The horses’ tails are bobbed, and the guachos wave at the bus full of us tourists. Its so peaceful. Just wind in the grasses and brush, sleeping sheep, horizon. When a lamb wanders inside the barista scoops her up and deposits her back onto the porch.

Perito Moreno is one of only three glaciers in the world that is actually growing. It cracks constantly, and once I managed to see a cascade of ice calving into the green waters. It’s huge, especially from the water, although its only a quarter of the size of Once and Upsala.

Tomorrow we leave to Chile for Torres de Paine and four more days of hiking— next post from Puerto Natales!